Linux Hardware RAID Configuration

[Darrin Chandler]

Jeff Garland wrote:

> I'm not sure if the ones on the AN8 qualify as 'real RAID'.  Basically 
> it appears that the mobo has an NVidia RAID controller onboard.  The 
> BIOS settings clearly allow for the full setup of RAID -- there's a 
> special BIOS utility to define and configure the setup.  When I first 
> boot the machine there's a message about 'valid array'.  It looks like 
> this is all setup correctly.
>
> I've been reading a number of postings on various sites about problems 
> with this chipset and Linux although it looks like some have it 
> working -- but it isn't clear.  When I run Knoppix startup in expert 
> mode I can see an attempt to load nv_raid drivers which looks like it 
> failed -- however it scrolled by a bit fast to really see -- I'll have 
> to try again.  The other little tidbit is that it looks like these are 
> being treated as SCSI drives even though they aren't -- there are some 
> message to that effect and the Ubuntu setup as well.  Finally, after I 
> boot Knoppix, QTParted still clearly sees them as 2 devices not one...


Is the nv_raid info in your dmesg? Might be worth looking at...

> Maybe it's not worth goofing with the hardware RAID an just go for 
> software RAID -- Linux can clearly do this. I would assume there is 
> some performance penalty, but it probably doesn't matter -- this isn't 
> for a high volume server or anything.

Since nobody else has come out and said it yet, I feel compelled: don't 
think that raid will guarantee your uptime or your data. If it's 
important enough to use raid, it's important enough to keep good 
backups. If it's important enough to use raid, learn how to use it. 
Break the mirror. Rebuild the mirror with 1 good disk and 1 blank one. 
Experiment and learn how to recover and make notes now, while you have 
the chance.

-- 
Darrin Chandler            |  Phoenix BSD Users Group
dwchandler at stilyagin.com   |  http://bsd.phoenix.az.us/
http://www.stilyagin.com/  |